Depending on your source, data comparing the shopping and spending habits of online shoppers versus offline shoppers may vary, but the research all illustrates the importance of geographically targeting your SEO efforts. This factor is vital to any business, whether the site is a resource for hundreds of global locations, or one for an isolated mom-and-pop’s store.
According to CrossMedia Services’ ShopLocal.com, average shoppers purchasing offline spend approximately $.60 more on every dollar that online shoppers spend. For shoppers in the higher income brackets, that dollar is nearly doubled. In addition, the number of products purchased per average offline transaction belittles online shoppers at a ratio of 5:3.
For locally owned brick-and-mortar stores, the significance is self-evident. But how can a national or even global company use this to their advantage? Take for example, the yearly searches for the term, “malpractice lawyer,” which is searched for 110,954 times. The next most popular related search is for “Michigan medical malpractice lawyer,” which is searched for 13,250 times a year. This is quite a difference in terms of search volume, but for a national malpractice firm, the Michigan niche could be a fruitful one.
As the search engine industry moves toward localization and personalization, speaking directly to your potential customers is sure to become increasingly imperative. Thorough, meticulous keyword research is mandatory to succeed in geo-targeting, as well dedicating pages to areas responsible for high search volume. In addition, you can register for local searches with the major engines at the following URLs:
Google:
http://www.google.com/local/add/Yahoo!:
http://listings.local.yahoo.com/MSN:
http://search.msn.comlocal/
